Insight into the regional distribution and geographic setting of the Vinča and Bubanj-Sălcuţa-Krivodol settlements in the Central Balkans and its implications

Abstract

The paper presents the results of research on the regional distribution and geographic setting of the 5th millennium BCE settlements in the Central Balkans. The research encompasses two successive archaeological cultures in the area between the Danube Valley and the upper course of the Južna Morava River and compares the regional distribution of the settlements and their topographic and pedological aspects. It has been concluded that the relocation occured on a regional level, meaning the abandonment or a reduced population of the regions which were densely populated during the Vinča culture. The emphasised dichotomy in the topographic type of the settlements with more or less equally distributed settlements compared to the altitude and an increased focus on soils unsuitable for cultivation suggest the utilisation of a wider range of local resources and a greater degree of mutual connections between the BSK settlements. The observed trends are interpreted in correlation with the previous knowledge on economic strategies of the population of the Central Balkans. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. OI 177020: Archaeology of Serbia: Cultural identity, integration factors, technological processes and the role of the Central Balkans in the development of European prehistory]

Keywords

• vinča culture
• bubanj-sălcuţa-krivodol cultural complex
• central balkans
• regional settlement distribution
• geographic setting
• late neolithic/early eneolithic economy